Going Green — CSE sponsors eco event at the Nature Center

Every year, factories expel 30 million tons of toxic chemicals into the environment. Every year, Americans produce 3,285 pounds of hazardous waste. Every Albion student can change this.

The Center for Sustainability and the Environment (CSE) hosted its environmental awareness project at the Whitehouse Nature Center on Oct. 26. Visitors were exposed to recent environmental issues, toured the Nature Center and tried locally grown food.

“A lot of cool [environmental] ideas are circulating, so one of the things I’ve been trying to do is put those policies in action, and Green Day is just one of them,” Pryce Hadley, Marquette senior, said.

This is Hadley’s fifth time coordinating the bi-annual event, is a member of the CSE, and hopes to revive the Eco Club. According to him, students can most effectively reduce their carbon footprint on campus by “limiting the use of automobiles, eating more sustainably, and making their possessions last.” These have ecological and economic benefits.

“During my time here, I have been very actively engaged in environmental initiatives on campus, from the Student Farm to the Sustainability Theme Year,” Hadley said. “However, there is much to be accomplished on campus in terms of environmental awareness. Myself and many other dedicated CSE students are attempting to bridge that education gap.”

The CSE operates “by bringing theory to practice and taking the broadest view of the interplay of natural and societal systems, we enrich and expand on traditional liberal arts majors and strive to prepare our students to be effective stewards of the planet,” according to the program’s webpage.

Sara Sample, Sterling Heights first-year, took part in CSE’s event on a mission to learn about new green topics.

“I learned that there are going to be seven billion people on the earth by Oct. 31,” Sample said. “I feel like overpopulation could be a really big problem in the future if it isn’t addressed. There are already so many people in the world, so today’s problems will only be magnified.”

One of these problems is mountaintop removal. Michael Albani, Roseville junior, is writing a novel on the topic. Even though he is studying History and English, mountaintop removal has always been a subject of passion for him.

“The Appalachian Mountains are the most bio diverse area in the U.S.,” Albani said. “Destroying the mountain completely upsets that ecosystem in a way you that you can’t get back. Also, you have locals who have a deep connection to the land. Destroying the mountain forces them off their land.”

Nick is a junior from Rochester, Mich., majoring in French and minoring in cell and molecular biology. He has interests in serving Doctors Without Borders and in writing medical journalism. Follow him on Twitter @docteur_diamond.